Researchers switch material from one state to another with a single flash of light

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory  October 19,2018
In tantalum disulfide the charge density waves are all oriented in the same direction in the alpha state. A team of researchers in the US (MIT, SLAC National Accelerator, Harvard University) zapped a thin crystal of tantalum disulfide with a very brief laser pulse. They found that some of the waves flipped into a beta state with a different electron orientation, and the alpha and beta regions were separated by domain walls. A second flash of light dissolved the domain walls and returned the material to its pure alpha state. They could fine-tune the process by adjusting the temperature of the crystal and the energy of the light pulse, giving them control over the material switch. In a next step, the team wants to gain even more control, for example by shaping the light pulse in a way that it allows generating domain patterns in the material. The findings could be an important step toward using light in creating the exact material properties… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE 

In experiments at SLAC, single pulses of laser light were used to switch tantalum disulfide from one state to another and back again. Credit: Science Advances